The Kenora Catholic District School Board dropped the puck on its first year of the specialized Hockey Skills Development program, providing students with an opportunity to skate, shoot and score with a lot of fun mixed in.
Megan Derouard, Healthy Active Living Lead talks about the program. "It has been very successful with over 100 students participating from across the board. We have had students at all skill levels from never having played hockey before to those who are part of the local hockey leagues."
The program has been a huge hit with the students offering just want they wanted.
Tristan Kelly a Grade 5 student from Pope John Paul II School took part in the program. "It's really good and has made me a better hockey player. All the drills are a lot of fun, and I like playing with students from other schools." Kelly plays Defense for the Kenora Minor Hockey League and talks about the skills he's learned in the program. "I've increased my skills with puck control, picking up in the zone, passing and keeping my head up. I've gotten better since starting the program."
"The coaches are nice and the program is a lot of fun," says Grade 5 student Ben Favreau from École Ste-Marguerite Bourgeoys. "Our coaches taught us about passing and keeping our heads up. They are nice and very helpful. They know how to teach the drills well."
The board partnered with Dave Turner as the head instructor and welcomed the support of various on-ice assistants including Kevin Muise and James Hendy and many other parents and volunteers.
"I've seen great improvement from the students that were just learning hockey," says Dave Turner. "We were trying to give everyone more confidence and build on their hockey skills, through drills and repetition. The better players were great mentors and led by example. During the season we worked on the basics of skating, stopping, turning, cross-overs, body control, balance and stick handling."
The board piloted the program at St. Louis School during the 2016/17 School Year and expanded it for the 2017/18 School Year to Grade 4 - 6 students at École Ste-Marguerite Bourgeoys, Pope John Paul and St. Louis School.
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Tristan enjoyed playing hockey with students from the other schools and gained a lot of skills.
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Ben was impressed with the coaches. "They were great."
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A huge KCDSB thank you to all of our parents, coaches and volunteers. Barb, a parent from St. Louis School calls herself a 'hockey mom.' "I'm delighted my two daughters are in the Hockey Skills Development Program. I love to see the smiles on the students' faces. It's great to see their skills develop while they're having fun."
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Grade 5 Student, Dustin improved his cross-overs and backwards skating skills during the program.
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